iPhone
Accessories
Programs
iPhone 3G
Ok so after about a month of using the iPhone 3G I have finally found the time to write a review. So we are going to start from day 1 and basically go through all the features and how well they actually worked. Granted some of the features will work better or worse in different areas based on reception.
Day 1
I get in line early in the morning to ensure that I get a phone on launch day. Which does happen and I am the first one to leave the store with a “working” phone. The whole in store process was very quick and painless. I walked up to a person with a checkout machine he asked me if I am a current customer or not and made a selection on that. Then he asked what plan I would like and checked it off on his machine. Then he asked if I wanted to add anything on to my plan (texting). Once all of that was added on he asked what kind of size/color I wanted. I told him and he proceeded to grab the phone I wanted while my account was being changed. This took all of 5 minutes from walking in the door. After he scanned my phone we went to the genius bar to activate it through iTunes. I was told to open my box so I could be the first one to touch my phone, which I thought was very cool of the employees to being doing this for us. Then I got to plug my phone in to activate it. This was before the servers crashed and all hell broke loose mind you. There was a simple phone set up menu on iTunes that took another 5 minutes. After which I walked out of the store to Apple employees and enthusiasts applauding, typical Apple launch things. Then when I got home all hell broke loose with my phone not receiving reception and Apple and AT&T were no help at all after several hours on the phone with them and back at my Apple store. My problem was solved by simply changing out my SIM card. Thanks to Macrumors for that one. The rest of day 1 was pretty much just playing around with everything not really testing anything in particular.
Hardware
Everyone knows the big thing about the iPhone 3G is the 3G chip set itself. 3G is simply lightning fast compared to the original EDGE. I now find no real need to waste my battery sitting on WIFI when my 3G is just about as fast. I average about 1.21 Mbps around town. 
While the 3G is something to boast about I must say that I was very disappointed with the AGPS. While it can find me it will not accurately find me and can give me horrible circular directions when using current location in google maps. It could just be my location compared to the satellites and everything but I think Apple skimped out on the GPS antennas. More will be elaborated on that later. The screen is just as amazing as the previous version of the iPhone. I could not be more happy with resolution and feel of the screen. Last but not least the plastic case. I seem to be in the few people that actually like the plastic back more then the aluminum one. For one the back is not flexy at all compared to the bottom of the Gen 1 iPhones. That makes me feel allot better when I am walking around with my phone naked. I was always scared that the little piece of plastic guarding the antenna was about to crack or break. This version just feels so much stronger and more comfortable in the hand with the curved back.
Software
While buggy as any previous firmwares version 2.0 adds a lot of features that the phone needed to keep up with other smart phones on the market. The biggest one being the App Store followed closely by exchange. Now not only do we have an amazing phone operating system we can add programs without the need to jailbreak. Many of the programs of the iPhone are exactly the same as previous firmwares so they will not be mentioned here. First to be mentioned will be the App Store. I enjoy the looking at all the new and useless programs every day. Most of the applications will be very familiar from what used to be in installer. The amount of free apps makes me smile every day because for every app that costs money there is another one that does the same thing for free. The layout is very easy to navigate and purchasing couldn’t be easier. Although purchasing applications on your phone prolongs your syncing time to upwards of 10 minutes. Maps is very much the same aside from the GPS assistance that it no receives. The GPS can seem to be very use full but it does not keep up with you very well if you are driving. It has what seems to be a very bad delay in track you. I ended up circling a few places because the GPS was so far behind me. That being said it is still a hell of allot better then the tracking and locating that the iPhone gen 1 has. Exchange/Push support something that was added into mail, contacts, and calenders works extremely well. It is a little slower then what I have noticed on other push supported devices but I think that will get better when Apple figures it out a little bit more. I usually get my contacts and calender dates updated between 1 minute and 15. All in all not to bad, but then again I am not getting updated on a meeting that I have in 15 minutes from the time my calender was updated in the office.
Conclusion
While I might sound like a raging fan boy this phone is well worth the price that is paid for it if you currently have a Gen 1 or are looking to switch to AT&T. Paying full price for this version just does not seem worth it to me. I think you would be better off getting a Gen 1 off of craigslist and unlocking it. Even though the phone does have its fair share of quarks it can only get better with it firmware updates and I look forward to watching this new platform expanding in the future.
Griffin AirCurve
So my AirCurve was supposed to arrive Saturday and it just got here today so this review is a little behind when I wanted to post it. I have been playing with it ever since I got home from work and I have to say its pretty cool. It actually does multiply the sound out of your iPhones speaker. 10 Decibels might be stretching it but its loud enough now for me to hear on the other half of my apartment clearly. Speaker phone was a little funny because I could not be heard by the other party that well. I have yet to test the alarm since I didn’t wake up in the morning to it yet but if the music playing is any hint to how loud this gets when the alarm goes off I have to say this thing will wake just about everyone. I love the design of this thing and it seems well constructed but that doesn’t matter since it’s just going to sit on most peoples night stands. This dock isn’t all good though. There are a few things I did not like about it. For one the dock pieces that are used to fit your phone are made of rubber instead of a hard plastic which takes some of the support away from your phone. Also the routing is horrible. The cable just doesn’t want to stay and you can not just simple plug and unplug your phone like the Apple dock and other 3rd party docks. To unplug your phone you have to pull the cable out a little bit so you can pull it out of the phone. Other then that It’s a great dock and a a great cheaper option then the Apple dock. I give it a 4 out of 5.
I Love Katamari
Yesterday I said that to get back in the swing on posting I was going to post a review of a game that I just realized came out. I Love Katamri. Thanks to the cluster fuck that is the iTunes app store I did not discover this game until yesterday when I was surfing gizmodo. Before I went out and bought the game I decided to do a little research into how the game played since it was released in December of 08. With most of those reviews turning out to be positive I decided to give it a whirl.
My first impressions of the game was amazement. I was so happy that I found this game. It was a perfect fit for the iPhone and iPod touch. But then I realized how short the story was and ran into all these random sorts of annoying bugs that took away from the game play itself. The music and characters even without speech bring you right back into the story. With the kings humors lines about what hair cut he wants to get or how bad you did because you couldn’t roll up some sort of odd object quick enough.
The story is simple enough, the king of the universe had one wild and crazy night and would like you to hunt down some specific objects that can be found on the different stages of the world. The language used by the king of the Universe not only bring you into the story but also give you a few chuckles while reading the text.
The good for this game is that it seems the game was designed for the iPhone. The controls are mostly fluid and just feel right when controlling the ball around the map. The game while short keeps you playing unlike some other games that are just pick up and put down right after you beat a level or 2. I just couldn’t seem to put the game down until after I beat all 5 worlds which took about an hour. I still pick up the game and keep replaying the different stages along with the other parts of the game. Exact size, timed, and free roam. I would say in the couple of days that I had this game I find it well worth the 7.99 that I paid for it.
The bad how ever is not to pretty. During parts of the game you will notice random parts of FPS slow down which gets annoying and really takes you away from the game play itself. Also there a few little hicups in the steering itself usually you can roll around without a problem, but later on in the game it gets harder and harder to turn your ball around. While I can see a reason for this since the size of your Katamari gets bigger and bigger every level. It can still get annoying when you are trying to hit the time crunches to pass a level.
For the price I think I Love Katamari is well worth it just for its re-playability. It doesn’t hurt that every time you pick up the game you get a smile on your face from the music and everything that you can roll up into a nice little ball. But since the game is so short I have to give it a 3 out of 5. Hopefully the developers will expand the game giving users more and more bang for their buck.
I honestly never heard of this game until it was launched yesterday. When I first saw pictures of it I was ecstatic because it looked so much like Loco Roco for the PS2 and PSP. Both of which I love to play. This is not a complete review since I am still only 10 levels into this 30+ level game. From what I have seen so far this game looks and feels amazing. The control are very intuitive and the colors and layouts of the levels just keep making you want to go farther and farther into the game.
Unlike Loco Roco the characters in this game actually talk to you and have their own personalities based on their looks. While they don’t actually make noise the text bubbles give you a clear insight into the characters personalities. The developers designed this game around the iPhone and iPod touch amazingly well. The accelerometer and flick and pinch control blend seamlessly into the characters movement and other aspects of the game. While playing I have yet to have a crash or glitch of any kind.
This is one of the first programs I have seen that don’t have random glitches and crashes. A big kudos to the developers for this one. For $9.99 this game is a complete steal and a great way for kids and office workers to waste their hours away. [iTune Link]
